Justice News

Nashville Man Convicted of Robbing and Shooting Drug Dealer

Evidence Showed Defendant Tried to Kill and Burn the Victim

Montrez E. Duncan a/k/a Money, 33, of Nashville, Tenn., was convicted yesterday by a federal jury, after a 6-day trial, of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act Robbery, Robbery and carrying, brandishing and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, announced David Rivera, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.

According to the proof at trial, Duncan and three other men obtained information which led them to believe that a known drug dealer would have a substantial amount of cocaine and cash, derived from prior drug sales, stashed in his home. On September 26, 2012, Duncan and the co-conspirators followed the individual to his home, where they surreptitiously entered the home, tied up the individual, and threatened to kill him while pointing a gun at the back of his head. The robbers then took a substantial quantity of cocaine and cash from the home. After the home invasion and robbery, Duncan and the others kidnapped the individual, forced him into a van, took his car and forced him to contact other people to obtain more cocaine and cash. Duncan and the others then waited and monitored the individual as he took delivery of more drugs and cash from those he was forced to call.

The trial proof showed that after Duncan and the others decided that the individual was of no further value to them, they drove to a field in a rural part of Davidson County. While Duncan attempted to stuff the bound individual into the trunk of his car, the others poured gasoline in the interior of the car in order to light the car and the individual on fire. The individual was able to break free and as he fled, was chased and shot by one of the assailants before he made it to a nearby house, where residents called police.

The evidence also showed that Duncan and the others planned to use the proceeds from this robbery to pay attorney fees for a potential serious state charge which Duncan feared was going to be filed against him and his girlfriend. Duncan provided $20,000 in cash from this robbery to his mother to use for attorney fees, and the co-conspirators then sold the cocaine taken in the robbery.

Duncan is scheduled to be sentenced on December 12, 2016, and faces up to life in prison.

Two of the defendants in this case, Victor Jones, 28, and Raymond Wilson, 26, both of Nashville, have pleaded guilty to charges as a result of this investigation and are awaiting sentencing. The fourth charged defendant, Javonte Fitzgerald a/k/a Pooh Man, 23, also of Nashville, is set for trial in December 2016. Fitzgerald is presumed innocent unless and until found guilty in a court of law.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Philip H. Wehby and Sunny A.M. Koshy.

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